[AR5,Black Edition]

27 minutes ago, JKent said:

Roy was too polite to say it bluntly but your friend is wrong. Look at the AR-3a Restoration Guide, written by experienced restorers including Roy (THE resident expert) and johnnieo (an EE professor). 

Your fixed resistors threw things WAY off. You will be infinitely better off with L-pads.

Kent

Alright. Since i am the novice here, any kind of advice i always take in consideration even when its the wrong kind of advice. 

[AR5,Black Edition]

46 minutes ago, RoyC said:

Using only series resistance changes the crossover points, and the amount you used changed them rather significantly. Consequently, you are no longer listening to any version of the AR-5.

The best way to implement fixed resistors is to mimic a preferred setting of the original AR 15 ohm pot. For example,  3 ohms in series and 12 ohms in parallel, an often preferred mid setting, is equivalent to a bit less than a quarter turn off maximum. All series/parallel resistor combinations should add up to 15 ohms. Doing it this way attenuates the tweeter and mid without changing the original character of the AR model. (L-pads work the same way, but with different series/parallel values, which is why the fixed 25 ohm parallel resistor is recommended when using 8 ohm L-pads.)

Roy
 

Thank you for your expertise. I am merely a hobbyist that knows little to nothing about crossovers. I will look into that. 

[AR5,Black Edition]

45 minutes ago, Aadams said:

Does this mean all your music files are rented or public access instead of owned. No local storage?

Ohh, i have music on a NAS. The streamer does also play from LAN. 

[AR5,Black Edition]

35 minutes ago, Aadams said:

Do you use a turntable at all?

 

Nope, no turntable. Streamer into a DAC. 

[AR5,Black Edition]

9 minutes ago, RoyC said:

Amplifierz,

What resistor values and configuration (series/parallel) did you use for the tweeter and mid in lieu of variable controls?

Roy

Roy, i believe it was 8 ohms for the tweet and 5 ohms for the mid. In series of course. 

[AR5,Black Edition]

I got a miniDSP for that. If i ever feel the need to attenuate the mid when i change something in the chain. 

[AR5,Black Edition]

Hi Aadams, 

Yes. That is a Hi-Vi Q1R. Fitted with the appropriate addons to achieve close to AR sound. Yep, i cut the screens from the mids.

Unfortunately someone dropped a unit while i was working on them, leaving a big old dent in the screen (and the dome underneath it) Needed to remove the screen and use a vacuumcleaner and the tape method to resurrect the now inverted dome. I managed to pull it off without severe damage, but i saw no way to place the screen back. And to make them look identical i removed the screen from the other mid aswell. 

Pots were not salvageable, 40 years of thick corrosion did its thing. Even an overnight bath in distilled white vinegar wasnt up to the task. 

So i looked around for a good L-pad replacement. A friend of mine suggested that you don't want L-pads in the signal, so i went with the direct resistor route. After multiple hours of testing and listening i came to the right values, put them in and never looked back. They sound amazing right now.  Okay, attenuation is a bit trickier right now. But these speakers are now tuned how i like them, and they aint leaving anytime soon. 

[AR5,Black Edition]

Hi guys, 

Just wanted to share, my Acoustic Research AR-5's. I fell in love with the AR sound after i found a pair of damaged AR4xa's on the sidewalk. Made them work, loved the sound. Went searching for a next step up, came across a pair of AR-5's. Unfinished pine,cabinets damaged, tweeters destroyed. Woofers badly refoamed, pots heavily corroded..  But! They were only 50 bucks. So i dediced to go all out and give my twist on them.  Here is the result.